Michael Schumacher’s friend predicts when fans may learn more about F1 icon | F1 | Sport

A close associate of stricken F1 icon Michael Schumacher has suggested when the public may discover “a little bit more” about the seven-time world champion’s wellbeing. Yet those hoping for any official updates on the German’s current state in the near future ought to brace themselves for disappointment. Schumacher has remained completely shielded from public view since sustaining life-altering injuries in a skiing incident on December 29, 2013.

Precious few details regarding his condition and treatment have surfaced in the 12 years that have followed, despite enormous public curiosity, primarily due to his wife Corinna’s commitment to safeguarding her husband’s privacy. Apart from close family, only a tight-knit group of utterly trusted confidants have been permitted to see Schumacher and access specific information about his care. Even certain individuals who shared a strong connection with the F1 great prior to his accident have been prevented from visiting him in the years following his accident.

His former manager Willi Weber, for instance, has been outspoken in his criticism of being kept uninformed. Richard Hopkins is another who has found himself shut out, notwithstanding his earlier relationship with Schumacher.

He would routinely share coffee breaks with the driver despite being employed by competing teams, particularly McLaren, from the early 1990s when Schumacher first emerged on the scene through to 2007, the year following the seven-time champion’s initial retirement from Ferrari.

“It’s difficult,” Hopkins said to Express Sport about being kept in the dark. “I think all of us, and it’s just human nature, want to know. We would love to know. I guess for some people, and me included, not knowing is okay as well. Unfortunately, we create our own ideas, but we can only imagine that not a lot is being said because there’s maybe not a lot to say.

“We’re not seeing him because maybe the family don’t want him to be seen in the condition he’s in. That obviously generates your own ideas and images, and I think we all probably have a similar idea of the state that he’s in. We’re probably not too far off the mark in our assumptions of where he’s at right now.

“I haven’t really spoken to anybody closer to that inner circle about what I think. But I think we all think the same. Of course it’s a little bit frustrating that we’re kept in the dark. But I don’t think we’re that in the dark – I think our own assumptions are fairly accurate about where he’s at right now.”

The extent of interest in his health, though, comes as no surprise to Hopkins. He continued: “There are rubberneckers who love the gore and everything else, and then there are genuine people who had a lot of time for Michael, either within the paddock or watching him on TV.

“There’s genuine curiosity, but there are two sides to it. But I think it’s okay. Maybe the fact that questions are constantly asked isn’t a bad thing. It keeps him remembered.”

Schumacher is thought to live mainly at the family’s residence on Lake Geneva, where he receives round-the-clock care from a team of medical professionals.

Access is restricted to immediate family and a handful of trusted individuals. Whilst the complete list remains private, those known to visit include former Ferrari team principal and FIA president Jean Todt, Austrian ex-F1 driver Gerhard Berger and former journalist Sabine Kehm, who now manages the Schumacher family’s affairs.

Hopkins believes this tight-knit circle will remain unchanged throughout Schumacher’s lifetime. He said: “I’m sure the day that he’s no longer with us, we might be privy to a little bit more information.

“But all the while he’s with us, in whatever state that is, the family are respecting his privacy. I don’t think there will ever be a day while he’s alive when suddenly everything comes out. But maybe when he’s no longer with us, we’ll find out a little bit more about his life post-accident.”